Popularity of France's Hollande continues decline - poll

France's President Francois Hollande listens as a guest speaks in the courtyard following a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, November 17, 2012.

Reuters/Benoit Tessier=

PARIS French President Francois Hollande's approval rating declined for the sixth month in a row in November, a poll showed on Sunday, as he wrestles with a sickly economy and rising unemployment.

The number of people satisfied with Hollande's performance slipped by 1 percentage point to 41 percent in November, according to the Ifop poll, a new low since he became France's first Socialist president in 17 years in May.

Hollande said this week public criticism would not divert him from his goal of reviving the economy and called on voters to judge him in five years.

The approval rating of Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, worsened at a faster rate, declining by 6 percentage points to 43 percent this month, according to the poll carried out for Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper.